Rod puller



R. A. MILLER `Ian. 23, 1962 ROD FULLER Filed Jan. 16, 1959 Y ...whlt

INVENTOR. ROBERT A. MILLER ATTORNEY I ite tats 3,ti1t7,68l RGD FULLERRobert A. Miller, Culver, Ind., assigner to Joy Manu" actnring Company,Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Jian. 16, 1959,Ser. No. '787,255 1 Claim. (Cl. 2li-254) This invention relates to rodpullers and more particularly to an improved rod puller especiallydesigned for use with a drilling apparatus for pulling a string of drillrods from the hole being drilled and embodying reversible rod grippingmeans whereby the string of drill rods may be pushed into the hole.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved rod pullerfor pulling a string of drill rods from a drill hole or for pushing therod string into the hole. Another object is to provide an improved rodpuller having improved rod gripping means. A further object is toprovide an improved rod gripping means which is readily reversible toeffect gripping of a drill rod in either direction. A still furtherobject is to provide an improved reversible cam type rod grippingmechanism. Yet another object is to provide lan improved drill rod guideassociated and cooperating with the rod puller. These and other objectsand advantages of the invention will, however, hereinafter more `fullyappear in the course of the ensuing description.

In the accompanying drawings there is shown for purposes of illustrationone form which the invention may assume in practice.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a drilling apparatus with which anillustrative form of the improved rod guide and rod puller isoperatively associated.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical section of the rod pullershown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged transverse vertical section taken on line 3 3 ofFIG. 2, showing the same in rod gripping position.

FIG. 4 is a detail section taken on the plane of FIG. 3, showing partstransposed to effect gripping of a drill rod of smaller diameter.

FIG. 5 is a vertical section taken on line 5--5 of FIG. 3, showing thegripping cam.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary side view looking in the direction of the arrowin FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a detail vertical section taken on line 7 7 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a detail vertical section taken on line 8*8 of FIG, 2, showingan eccentric rod bushing for the guide arm.

FIG. 9 is a side View, similar to FIG. 6, showing the cam-grip inreleased position out of engagement with the drill rod.

In this illustrative construction, as shown in the drawings, theimproved rod puller is generally designated l. and, as shown in FIG. 1,is operatively associated with a drilling apparatus generally designated2, the latter herein desirably supported by upright columns 3. Thedrilling apparatus 2 is desirably of a well known design and ernbodiesmeans for rotating a drill rod string d, which may pass axially througha tubular drill spindle 5. The rod puller is herein desirably mounted ona suitable bracket 6 herein supported on the top of the drillingapparatus although, evidently, the rod puller may be supported in othersuitable manners. Mounted on the rod puller is a conventional drill rodguide 7, later referred to.

Now referring to the improved rod puller ll it will be noted that thesupporting bracket 6 has clamping devices for engaging and supporting afluid cylinder 8 herein extending longtiudinally along one side of thedrilling apparatus with its longitudinal axis in parallelism with thelongitudinal axis of the drill rod string 4. Reciprocable within thisiluid cylinder is a piston 9 having its piston rod l@ extendinglongitudinally through a front packed head Il of the tluid cylinder,through a suitable guide bushing l2. The front cylinder head Il has acylindrical portion on which the hub 13 of the drill rod guide '7 isswivelly mounted as at lil. A suitable clamp 15 may be tightened tosecure the guide 7 in the desired position on its swivel mounting. Thepiston rod extends axially forwardly of the rod guide 7 in advance ofthe front cylinder head and secured to the forward end of the pistonrod, as by threaded nut 16, is an arm 17 by which a rod gripping deviceIS is supported. The rear cylinder head 19 is secured in position bydetachable elements such as rollpins I9', and may be readily detachedwhen desired. Both the guide 7 and the grip-arm 17' may swing about thelongitudinal axis of the rod-puller cylinder 8.

Secured as by bolts 2t) to the arm I7 is an outer arm 21 having a curvedouter or lateral portion 22 which, as shown, underlies the drill rodstring 4. Pivoted at 23 on one of the bolts is a latch 24- in the `formof a generally rectangular plate which, when swung into closed retainingposition, as shown in FIG. 3, is at its lower edge received in a slot 25in the outer portion 22 of the outer arm 21. Mounted on the other boltis a handle 26 having a rectangular portion 27 which engages the upperend of the latch, as shown in FIG. 3, to hold the latter in retainingposition. A spring 28 surrounding a reduced portion of the bolt urgesthe handle inwardly and when the handle is pulled out in opposition tothe spring pressure the rectangular portion 27 is released from theupper edge of the latch to permit the latter to be swung into its openor releasing position, as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 2, so thatthe gripping mechanism may be laterally attached to the rod string. Thegripping mechanism 18 is reversible and comprises a reversible cam orpawl 29 desirably in the shape of a segment of a circle and this cam ispivoted at 311i on the lower lbolt, as shown in FIG. 3. The outer curvedsurface of the cam is` provided with suitable teeth or serrations, ormay be knurled, at 3l, for frictional engagement with the side of thedrill rod opposite from the lateral underlying portion 22 of the outerarm. A wire spring 32 mounted at 33 on the handle 26 engages the cam, asshown in FIG. 5, to urge the cam toward gripping position. As shown inFIG- URE 5 tubular handle 26 has a hole extending laterally therethroughwhich a wire spring 32. extends. The wire spring is held in position ybysuitable means such as by a set screw. Thus as handle member 26 isrotated wire spring 32 will rotate therewith. By offsetting the campivot the cam is provided wtih oppositely disposed eccentric curvedsurfaces which, in either reversed position of the cam, grip the rod asthe cam turns in one direction, i.e., the direction in which the cam isurged by the spring 32. The handle may be turned to bring the springinto engagement with either side of the cam, to urge the latter towardthe rod in either reversed position of the cam, and when the handle isin neutral position, as shown in FIG. 9, the cam hangs freely on itspivot with its gripping surfaces out of contact with the drill rod. Alsoin FIG. 9, the latch 24 is shown released, enabling ready lateralattachment of the gripping means with a drill rod.

When it is desired to grip a drill rod of smaller diameter than thatshown in FIG. 3 this may be accomplished as follows. The bolts 20 passthrough elongated holes or slots 34 in the outer arms and spacers orller segments 35 are received in the holes beneath the bolts topositionthe latter to the upper ends of the slots 33 when the parts are in theposition shown, and these spacers 35 may be reversed in position, asshown in FIG. 4, to locate the bolts at the bottoms of the slots asshown. The latch 24 may be reversed on the lower bolt to bring a lug 36thereon in guiding contact with the adjacent side of the drill rod. Thusthe smaller rod is adequately supported for gripping engagement by thecam. The guide arm 7 has an eccentric bushing 37 (FIG. 8) held inposition by a screw 38, and this eccentric bushing may be adjusted toposition properly the drill rod with respect to the cam-grip 18. Fordrill rods of other sizes different sized bushings may replace thebushing 37.

When it is desired to grip the drill rod string in the oppositedirection, the position of the cam and its spring may be reversed on thebolt as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 2, so as to effect pulling ofthe rod-string from the hole.

Fluid under pressure, desirably air pressure, may be supplied from anysuitable source under the control of a valve device 39 through conduits40 and 41 to the opposite ends of the fluid cylinder 8 at the oppositesides of the piston 11 thereby to effect reciprocation of the piston.When the parts are in the position shown in FIG. 2 and pressure uid issupplied to the cylinder to effect axial movement of the piston 9 towardthe right the cam 29 swings about its pivot to effect gripping of thedrill rod string 4 to effect movement of the latter also toward theright. When pressure fluid is supplied to the opposite end of thecylinder S to the opposite side of the piston the gripping mechanism ismoved toward the left and the cam automatically releases and slidesalong the drill rod string while the latter may remain stationary. Uponreversal of the position of the cam as indicated in dotted lines in FIG.2, and the feed piston is moved toward the right, the cam automaticallyreleases and upon movement of the gripping mechanism toward the left inFIG. 2, upon reversal of the piston, the drill rod string isautomatically gripped to effect pulling of the string axially toward theleft iin FIG. 2. In other words, when the pawl or cam 29 and spring 32are in the position shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, and the arm 17 is moved tothe right, the pawl releases and slides on the drill rod. When the arm17 is moved to the left in these figures the pawl 29 engages and gripsthe drill rod. Thus the cam type gripping mechanism may grip the drillrod string to push the latter into a hole being drilled or to pull thedrill string from the hole.

Usually the drilling apparatus has the drill rod string detached fromthe drill spindle during operation of the rod-puller, and the apparatusat that time may be swung or otherwise located at one side of the hole,in an out of the way position, as is well known to those skilled in theart.

As a result of this invention an improved rod puller is provided havingimproved rod gripping means whereby a drill string may be effectivelygripped and moved longitudinally in a drill hole. By the provision ofthe improved releasable cam type gripping means the drill rod string maybe gripped in either direction. By the simple transposition oradjustment of parts drill rods of different diameters may be supportedfor gripping by the cam. The drill rod guide cooperates in an improvedmanner with the rod gripping device in positioning the drill rods ofdifferent size with respect to the gripping cam. The device is not onlyeffective in operation but is also simple and rugged in design. Theseand other objects of the invention will be clearly apparent to thoseskilled in the art.

While there is in this application specifically described one form whichthe invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that thisform of the same is shown for purposes of illustration and that theinvention may be modified and embodied in various other forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim yas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A drill rod gripping device comprising a support, and a rod grippingmeans on said support comprising a reversible rod gripping element inthe form of a segment of a `circle and having an offset pivot to provideoppositely extending gripping surfaces eccentricaily disposed withrespec to the pivot, wherein said gripping element has relativelyinclined upper plane surfaces, and an adjustable spring means isprovided having oppositely extending spring portions selectivelyengageable with said plane surfaces to urge said gripping element towardrod gripping position in either reversed position thereof.

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